Vintage Luxman receivers

Luxman’s gear has always performed well, but their vintage gear from the 70s is much more sought after than their gear in the 80s. In the early 80s Tim de Paravicini already walked away from designing for Luxman, and Alpine bought them, and they no longer reigned. But the gear was still pretty good. $5 is a steal for the unit you got. 

When I first started out, Luxman was my starting point, and I recapped a number of their integrateds and amps, including the Luxman L-450, L-80V, L-85V (which i still have), and the M-300. The L-85 and M-300 are very good if able to restore. 

Congratulations on your purchase!

Bought a perfect condition Luxman R-104 at a garage sale today for 5 bucks!

Yes, Great deal!

I bought new in 1977 two Luxman B-12 monoblock amps and a Luxman C-12 preamp I paid $2000 for the two amps and preamp back then. I had them for more then thirty years before I sold them. Boy they did sound nice driving my JBL 4435's.😎

Mike

http://www.thevintageknob.org/luxman-B-12.html

http://www.thevintageknob.org/luxman-C-12.html

Does the new Luxman stuff have the same basic sound signature as the old stuff?

blisshifi     gave a nice description.  I’ve owned several vintage pieces when still actually Luxman and one Alpine piece.  Yes, they’ve mostly always been that good.  
 

My latest foray is the Luxman 509X monster and they do have a house sound.  My newest is just that much more muscular and controlling than previous vintage pieces.

I would also note that the newer pieces are a bit more refined and relaxed with more midrange magic than the older pieces. The detail retrieval and control improves with each price point / model upgrade but Luxman likes to focus preliminarily on the magic of the spectrum of midbass-midrange-lower treble.  

“Luxman likes to focus preliminarily on the magic of the spectrum of midbass-midrange-lower treble.  “

That description seems to make sense why they would be a good match for the Focals I’m using. 

In my opinion, the best sounding and the best made Luxman, solid state Amp and Preamp from the past, is the Luxman M-05 Power Amp and C-05 Preamp. I have not listened to any new Luxman gear, so I can not make any comparison on sound quality between old versus new. 😎 See below:

Mike

http://www.thevintageknob.org/luxman-C-05.html

Yes.  Luxman, with the exception of the Alpine owned years, has always sounded great.  I’ve owned/own 5 pieces over the years.  Currently a 509X which really rocks. They are fun pieces and now command kind of ridiculous prices used.  Enjoy.